Just Some Neil and Grace
by missinsertname
Summary: Series of one-shot style scenes, all Neil/Grace themed and centered, with frequent mentions of all the final cast and a leading role for the brilliant Jake Manson. Latest chapter: Jake experiments with a camera at a wedding...and the star cast do not act like the audience are used to.
1. A Conversation With Jake Manson

**My very first none-Potter fanfiction! I had to write this, Neil and Grace are one of my favourite pairings ever and now they are suspended in time people are forgetting them and the Bill. One of the best fanfictions in any fandom I have ever read were the Reaching Normality stories, (Reaching Normality, the Great Shenanigans of Jakes Eleventh Birthday, Courage to Suffer and the Outtakes), and they are brilliant and cannon and a fangirl's dream. This little one-shot was inspired in part by that, and by the fact that The Bill fanfictions, particularly Grace/Neil, are becoming worryingly thin on the ground. Please Enjoy!**

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"...and so if you could get that signed and put the paperwork through by the end of the day that would be great-"

DI Neil Manson was cut off by the sound of his phone in his pocket, and with a questioning glance at the PC with whom he had been talking, began to walk up the stairs away from the loud reception of Sunhill toward his office, answering as he walked to one of the very few people he would never ignore a call from.

"Hi Dad!" a cheerful young voice came through the phone as Neil entered CID.

"Alright mate! How are you?" came the reply, accompanied with a rare smile.

Grace glanced up from her desk as he entered and continued to talk, and smiled also at the show of affection she had come to admire he always had for his son. She caught his eye a little longer than she normally would have done, but then again at least Max wasn't there, and he held it and nodded at her unsaid request.

"Gracie says hi," he said as he closed the door, "but from your tone I am guessing that it not what you rang for is it?"

There was silence, and Neil suppressed a chuckle. He never rang him at work unless he had done something wrong or wanted something, and neither ever proved particularly good for Neil.

"Actually," Neil started at the elder female voice that issued through the phone, "I wanted to speak to you about it, but Jake took it upon himself." Neil fancied he heard a slight giggle in the background as he waited to hear what the babysitter wanted to talk to him about.

"One of the other children may be infectious, and I am afraid I have to return the others immediately. There are other options, but most parents aren't content with leaving their children with other child minders, so-"

"It's fine Mrs Smith." The woman sounded harried, and she had been completely invaluable in the past, with her nurse training giving her special license to mind ill children, so he could hardly hold this against her.

He did however have to release the sigh he had been holding when he had got off the phone, promising to go pick him up. There was nowhere else he could go other than here. Phillipa was in Devon with her cousin, and he wouldn't trust another sitter even if he could get one at such short notice.

It was only a couple of hours until the end of his shift, he supposed, and there was no major ongoing case, it was pretty much paperwork day, and he knew his team wouldn't mind, half of them acted Jakes age anyway.

Resigned to lack of choice, he made a quick announcement to the team to tell them what was going to happen, and he was met with more relief at a distraction than anything else, and a beautiful big smile from Grace, which he couldn't help but return.

This did not go unnoticed, and after he had left Grace was surrounded by wolf whistles, and she simply shook her head at their immaturity and feigned continuation of work, really excited by seeing Jake again, and the brilliant mood Neil was in when he was with him when he was well.

"Can I try on a hat?"

"No."

"Can I set off a siren?"

"No!"

The exclamation was intended to be stern, but Neil could not hide the amusement in his voice at his son's enthusiasm as the questions and requests continued right until they actually came to the doors of CID. For the first time he registered a slight nervousness on his son's face.

"I know this isn't ideal mate, but Grace is in there, and I promise you, everyone in there is really nice." Max had the week off.

"I'm okay Dad, I always am." He looked up with a brave and infectious smile, and pushed the doors open, his eyes immediately landing on Grace, who was standing near Terry's desk, her eyes on the door.

"Gracie!"

"Jakey!"

He rushed to hug her round her middle and she responded, ruffling his hair as he pulled away.

Neil glanced away from the exchange which had become usual to him to look at the rest of his team in amusement, as they exchanged glances of confusion about the endearment 'Gracie', and the familiarity which they had. No matter the varying levels of approval or interest, not many had thought that their relationship was that serious.

His smile fell slightly when he realised that the gossips of Sunhill now had exactly what they were looking for: a willing and reliable source of information about their relationship. He caught Grace's eye, and realised she had come to that conclusion long before he had, as usual, but saw the slightly amused resignation in her smile which seemed to say 'it had to happen'.

They were briefly distracted by PC Taylor walking in brandishing a piece of paper.

"Guv, somebody reckons they saw Natalie Shipman on the Tolgate Estate, they made a statement. Not backed up by anything yet, but you said to say if-"

"Yeah thanks Leon." He looked down at the paper at read it sounded promising, and bit his lip in indecision.

"Jake will be okay here, I really think you should go N-Guv." Grace spoke earnestly- he had been heavily involved in that case, and although the subsequent disappearance of the victim was almost certainly run away, he had always been worried.

"Are you okay with that Jake? I don't have to."

"You should," he said honestly, with a quick hug.

"Thanks son."

He turned to leave, but not before he heard Jake call out cheekily,

"Less rules anyway!"

He thought about reprimanding him, but he thought the grin on his face at the happiness and normality of his son might ruin the effect somewhat, so he continued to walk.

As soon as his Dad was gone, Grace sat Jake down at a spare chair at the side of her desk, and without any pretence of continuing to work they were joined in a kind of circle by the rest of the room.

Grace introduced everyone, and within a few minutes Jake had lost any initial inhibitions and was chatting away unaided by Grace. The rest of the team couldn't help but notice the bond between them, and how well she seemed to know him; in the space of a few minutes they learned more about her and their DI than they had in the entire time they had been together, which they didn't even know how long that was.

While talking about his favourite football team, he had revealed that that Grace had come to watch them with him and his Dad, and the next day they had gone to the cinema together but he had fallen asleep. He then went on, oblivious to Grace's awkwardness, to explain how Grace and his Dad went to eat posh food and go to the cinema to see boring grow up films when he was with his mum, and how he sometimes helps pick out the best chocolates for his Dad to buy her.

The reaction to these insights was more surprise than anything else by most: they had never envisaged DI Manson to be in any way romantic, and the picture that was conjured was so strangely _normal_.

Eventually though, Grace managed to steer the topic away, much to her colleagues disappointment, and Jakes attention was changed when a leading question by Mickey was addressed to 'Grace'.

"I always wanted to ask you Gracie," Jake said, unwittingly gaining the attention of everyone again, "Why do you have so many names?"

She paused, looking slightly confused at him.

"Well I've heard people hear call you Grace, and DC Dasari, but I call you Gracie, and so does Dad, but I've heard him call you all three. Am I calling you the wrong one?"

The glee at the shining new piece of gossip that the DI called Grace 'Gracie' gleamed from Smithy's eyes, and Grace saw that even Banksy was smirking, awaiting her answer.

"Well..." she deliberated, "DC Dasari is my work name for when I have to be official. Grace is what the people in my department and my friends call me, or if I am talking to people who aren't criminals."

"What about Gracie? I asked Dad and he said he didn't know, just that it sounds 'right'." He drew air quotes around the final words, his tone indicating the lack of sufficient explanation this adjective gave.

"I don't know either Jake. You can call me Grace if you want to-"

"I like calling you Gracie. Does anyone else call you Gracie?"

"My parents used to, and my brother does."

"Your family?"

"Yes."

However juicy the gossip was, the rest of the team slowly moved back to their desks, respectful of the evidently private conversation. (It wasn't a big office, they could hear anyway.)

"Oh, I get it. Your family all call you Gracie, and me and Dad are your family, so we call you Gracie." He spoke triumphantly, with an air of simplicity and obviousness about his tone, as if he felt he should have figured it out before.

The widest smile her friends had ever seen on her overtook her face at his words, and despite some of their discomfort, they couldn't help but feel a little touched by the boy and his effect on her.

"Family." She spoke quietly, but Jake heard.

"Of course. I asked Dad, and he says family is someone who you love who loves you too. So you have to be family, because Dad loves you me and you, and you love us, and I love you. So you are our family."

She couldn't find the right words, quite as she had been when Neil had first told her, and resolved to initiate a tight hug with the brilliant brave little boy who loved her, marvelling at her luck. The boy himself knew more than he let on, and knew it meant a lot. He had overheard her a while ago telling Dad she loved both of them, and she had been worried as to what his reaction would be, she didn't want him to feel like he had to call her Mum or anything, he already had that. He liked her so much more when he had heard her say that, and had realised he wanted her to be his family. He knew his Dad was really happy when they were all together.

Grace knew all of the teasing would come, but she didn't care. As long as he called her Gracie, it was worth it.

A few minutes later, Jake's phone rang and with Grace's permission he went into his Dad's office to talk to his Mum alone, thus giving everybody else the opportunity to do what they had wanted to for half an hour: suggestively make comments about chocolates and referring to her as Gracie in every instance, unperturbed by her lack of caring. She even answered some questions good-naturedly, when she had previously refused to even acknowledge them, and laughed along to the more innocent jokes.

Neil came back quicker than they had all thought, and arrived back in the building only minutes after Jake had finished his conversation with his mum.

He almost took the stairs two at a time heading back up to CID. It wasn't that he didn't trust Grace with Jake, far from it, it was just he knew that knowing the limits of his words was not a quality his son had mastered yet, perfectly predictably for an eleven year old, and he knew he was bound to have said something.

He paused on the landing outside the door as he had done with him a short time ago, and steeled himself slightly in preparation for what they, or more importantly Jake, may have said in his absence.

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**Well there you go! Only short, but I hope you enjoyed. If I get reviews (nudge nudge, wink wink) suggesting it, I would be more than happy to turn this into a multi chapter. Thanks for reading anyway! :D**


	2. A Night Not Unlike That One

**Okay well thanks to your lovely reviews, now this is officially a multi chapter story! I plan for each chapter to be pretty much stand alone, but each one-shot style piece will follow on from the last and I may interweave more plot as time goes on. I have a story in mind but I may put it in another fic.**

**I hope you enjoy this one anyway, it is shameless fluff, beginning to end, and far more involved with Grace and Neil together, although no Jake in this one. Please review for more if you like! :)**

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DC Webb paused at the door before exiting the office, checking his watch; Stevie would already be in the pub.

"See ya then Govner," he said, sparing a glance at his paperwork-buried DI through the open door to his office.

"Yeah bye Mickey," he responded absent mindedly.

Glancing back, he cheekily raised his eyebrow at the only other remaining colleague and winked, tilting his head suggestively in their superior's direction. Grace rolled her eyes, but he caught the small smile which had appeared on her face, unbidden.

Mickey opened the door.

"Try to at least get some painkillers in for the morning DC Webb," called Neil dryly, an amused smirk evident in his faux exasperated tone.

"I have no idea what you mean Guv."

Neil chuckled as the younger man left, standing to go to file his last paper of the night on today's time consuming but fruitful case; as per habit, he glanced over to his partner's desk to see her dark hair determinedly pushed behind her ears to prevent distraction; he knew he probably shouldn't interrupt her when she was in 'DC Dasari mode' as Jake had taken to calling it.

His son had come up with the name a couple of weeks ago, when Grace had been coerced to come over to their house on the proviso she was allowed to do some of her work. He had hoped to change her mind on arrival, but he should have known better really; she set up her laptop and papers around her on his sofa and had got to work while Jake and he watched TV. Despite her disengagement, he was struck by the perfect domesticity of the situation. Him stretched out, socks on the coffee table while his son sat snugly between him and her, making what he assumed were an eleven year old's idea of witty and insightful comments about the appearances and ability of the auditionees on '_Britain's Got Talent' ._

"I could do that, why does he look like he trying to poo?!" was one of the choicest remarks on a man who was doing one finger push-ups on a nail; even Grace didn't try to suppress a fairly rare giggle.

It had been nearly three weeks since Jake's visit to Sunhill, and though Grace's beaming account of their conversation put him in a brilliant mood for days, it didn't quite offset the mild annoyance at the reboot in gossip and teasing which seemed to have lapsed before. Is was still only mild annoyance though, for on the whole it was suggestive double meaning or exaggerated uses of the name 'Gracie' whenever he was in earshot. He did like to see that Grace didn't worry about it too much any more though. On occasion she had been the one doing the teasing, and he was absolutely fine with that, although an agitated Grace was always satisfying to calm down, and he marvelled how even a simple touch could still make her smile.

Neil smiled at his own thoughts, and continued to gaze at her reverently upon the realisation that there was no one else there so there was no longer any need to quickly avert his eyes. She looked slightly stressed, and there were sweeps of shadow below her large dark eyes.

He was her boss wasn't he? She had done enough work for today he decided as he observed her unabashedly through the glass. Yes, he would send her home to bed, like he would any other member of his team who was looking tired. Which bed she chose was entirely up to her.

He was about to move when he noticed her movements slow slightly, become almost stilted, and he realised with a hint of amusement that she had clocked his position and focus of attention, and in spite of her evident endeavours to feign ignorance, self-consciousness was taking over her body language, and she knew it; he noticed her deliberately pressing her lips together to avoid a smile, her eyes determinedly cast downward.

Leisurely, he made his way out of his office to stand casually behind her chair, making an innocent inquiry after what she was working on. She replied politely and professionally, but perhaps lengthened the 'Detective Inspector' she added to the end of her reply a little too much.

Grace had noticed him looking at her quite early on, but as her peripheral vision told her he was smiling _that_ relaxed, slow smile at her it became increasingly difficult to ignore, and thus her concentration slipped. She knew however that this had become a game, and not one she ever lost, but she was still relieved when he finally moved to stand behind her.

Flirtation, she found, came surprisingly naturally to her after years out of practise, it suited her dry and slightly sarcastic sense of humour more than the stoic and factual interaction she had engineered for herself, and the same in kind could be said about him.

He proved this by his next, distinctly not innocent action of leaning over her suddenly and boldly, his hand resting either side of her on the desk and his head next to hers, their cheeks a fraction of an inch apart but still not one part of them actually touching.

She drew breath quickly and tried to change it to a clearing of her throat. She could smell his aftershave, the one she had bought for him on his last birthday, and he could see the skin of her collarbone and smell her intoxicating flowery hair product which he had once helped apply.

"But it appears, DC Dasari, that you have simply typed the same word repeatedly in the details section of your Incident Report. What reason in the world could you have to do that eh?" Neil said lightly, his words reverberating in the little air that was between his mouth and her exposed ear as he turned his face slightly toward her. Grace still hadn't properly looked at him, and continued to ostensibly assess the screen.

"I have no idea. Perhaps I was distracted."

"But everyone has gone."

"I know, maybe I'm tired or something. An early night will do me fine I think."

She heard him swallow and she failed to repress a satisfied look. He realised his mistake but at that moment didn't really care; realising he had lost, he took the opportunity to kiss her, slowly, lazily, so she could feel that smile of the juncture of her ear and neck and he felt her gasp. He had surprised her with his forwardness, especially considering where they were, but the rush of being caught, and him being like this to her in the place where he had asked her on their first date on a night not unlike tonight washed away the brief bubbling of anxiety his actions had, for a moment, excited.

"You know, we handle some of the more serious workplace harassment claims. I know how to sue you, cheaply and legally," she said with mock sternness.

They both paused to laugh and he removed his lips from her skin to look into her eyes which were now on him. Neil brought his arms around her waist, spinning her chair toward him briskly and grabbing her firmly but gently by the waist and bringing her onto her feet until they were flush against each other. She responded willingly, but toyed with him by leaning back when his head ducked slightly to kiss her.

Neil pouted slightly, his head angled as she grinned coyly, resting her gentle fingers on his shirt under his suit jacket.

"I love you," she said earnestly, all traces of mocking replaced by calm and happy sincerity in the three words which could make both of them melt.

There was that smile again.

"Not nearly as much as I love you, trust me." He was serious, and by now he had come so close it felt like everything was him, all that was left was to close the distance between their lips, and neither of them, in that moment, could wait any longer, to hell with where they were.

Their eyes slammed shut and they met in the middle of the already small space, crushing their lips together until it became difficult to discern the difference, like they were joined, one person. Thoughts of home, love and family filled Grace's head and she slipped her hands into his hair and he tilted his head and opened his mouth, his hands already straying from the safety of her waist.

At length, and with some difficulty, they both made the tactical decision to pull apart. He loved the small blush on her cheeks after they ever did anything like that and watched her as she put her papers away. These were the parts of Grace he cherished, the parts no one else was privy to, and that he would never have seen had he not finally found the courage to be honest for both of them.

Reluctant to release her at all, he kept one hand resting on the curve of her hip behind her as she organised, rubbing small circles with his thumb.

When they left that night, hand in hand back to his currently otherwise empty, (Jake was staying at a friend's) house, they passed a couple of uniform coming back from the late shift; instead of making an uncomfortable comment, both men smiled widely at their CID counterparts, secretly marvelling at the way they just seemed to fit: secretly being a tiny bit jealous of the way they looked at one another when the other wasn't looking.

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**Thanks so much for reading! I am going to write more, but if you liked it or didn't, please tell me about it, I love to hear from people! :) Thanks again!**


	3. Britain's Got Manson

**Not entirely sure about this one, but I spent a bit of time on it, so I hope you like. More plot based, a little less fluff, but still some happy Grace/Neil goodness and some brilliant Jake! Please review!**

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"Sorry love, just for show."

PC Knight visibly struggled not to roll her eyes in mild frustration at the amount of times she had heard that in the past, looking up at the pointless CCTV cameras, but the bartender caught it and laughed without humour.

"Trust me, I bloody wish they wasn't now, after this. Boss is gonna have me guts for bleedin' suspenders when he finds out."

Kirsty laughed a little, appreciating how finding the office of a private function bar freed of the burden of hundreds of pounds of petty cash after an affluent and widely attended wedding reception was far more a problem for him than her.

"Well, we have to start somewhere, so..."

She preceded to ask the obvious questions, was it definitely there before the wedding, how long after did he realise it was gone, and quickly realised it had to be someone who attended the wedding, so asked for the list of attendees. He complied, but did say there were others that definitely weren't on the list that the couple allowed in.

She promised to try, and left with the names. Kirsty hated cases like this; they hardly ever went anywhere, there were no leads or evidence, just a great number of hung over party guests to talk to, she would have to rope Leon in. She hoped someone on the list could shed some light.

Getting into the car, she realised that, it being a wedding, there were likely to be photos, perhaps videos. Perhaps it wasn't such a lost cause, she hoped for the unlucky bartender's case anyway.

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Grace stifled a yawn as she sat down at her desk, throwing a cursory nod and smile of greeting to Mickey and Terry as she did so, who paused their animated conversation briefly to nod back, before noticing the DI was only just entering the office as well, only five minutes or so before the beginning of the shift.

DC Perkins raised his eyebrows at his friend, mirroring the mischievous smile alighting on his face.

"Sooooo Gracie," said the older man suggestively, spinning his chair to face her desk, "late night was it, only you don't look like you have gotten enough sleep."

She rolled her eyes, and considered ignoring him, but was bolstered by the early morning and the good mood she had been put in all of the previous weekend. Looking up, she raised her eyebrows.

"No I didn't get a lot of rest; I envy you, Terry, I really do, all you ever seem to be is well rested on a morning. Speaking of which, how is your wife?" she replied with a distinctly sarcastic tone, the corners of her lips turning up as his mouth dropped open in response and his eyes narrowed as Mickey burst out with surprised laughter.

"What's the joke?" said Neil without looking up from the papers he was reading, walking out of his office to stand next to their desks.

Terry still looked slightly flustered, and Mickey's face was of delighted and childish incredulity. Grace however was the picture of professionalism, and simply said lightly, "Just discussing our varying levels of satisfied weekend," glancing at him with a flash of a smile.

Neil looked straight at her, albeit slightly less surprised, still impressed, and quickly realised the tinge that had risen onto his cheeks so turned with a nod to walk back the innuendo free sanctuary of his office, only to be faced with PC Ryder brandishing a piece of paper and a slightly intimidated expression.

"Erm, I think there is something for CID in this Guv, I just ran it past the Sarge and she said to go to you." Mel held out the page for his inspection. It listed the brief details of three almost identical looking robberies of reception venues petty cash during weddings.

"'Cos they were quite a few weeks apart I think no one really noticed the connection, but Kirsty got another only this morning, the wedding was last night. She is going through the list of guests the bartender gave her, but he said it wasn't comprehensive, and-"

"There was no CCTV?"

She nodded, a resigned look on her face.

"I just thought, you know, with it being recent we could delve a little deeper into this one."

He admired the pluckiness of the young constable, and couldn't fail to see her logic.

"Right, well Uniform and CID can liaise on this then. If it is a systematic thing, let's get it stopped. Who wants it?"

Before any of the present officers could answer, Kirsty walked through the door with a purpose, but faltered slightly in her confidence when she found several people looking at her. She walked forward, focusing on the DI.

"Erm, it looks like we have a completely reliable potential witness on the list. It's, well, you Guv."

He took the list from her hand and saw immediately the words he knew would not bode well for him in the near future.

_Jake Manson, Neil Manson plus one._

He couldn't help looking down at his plus one, who looked back at him with a tired smile, the humour in her eyes from before not entirely diminished, cheering him back up a little.

"I think perhaps your witness might have some useful evidence," she said to Kirsty quietly but professionally. Upon her her partners confused look, she rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Jakes video."

They all watched the transition from realisation to quickly masked but present horror at her words, and he silently conveyed his annoyance at her through his customary glare, while she just raised her eyebrows as if to say 'well it's not great for me either'.

Jumping on an opportunity to turn the tables, Terry not-so-innocently inquired as to the significance of said video, and was awarded with a double strength Dasari-Manson glare that was only just enough to shut him up.

Grace stood, her gaze back on Neil.

"It would be quicker if I go and get the camera now, anything on it could be key, and seeing as they will probably have to interview us, someone else will have to take it." she said authoritatively, and he nodded in slightly irritated agreement, indicating Mickey as the candidate begrudgingly.

"I'll walk you with you, I have to talk to Smithy about this," he sighed, and they both left the room amid curious glances and smiles of anticipation.

"Well this is going to be fun, isn't it?" Neil said with false bravado, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Well it wasn't like I could hide it, and anyway you have to admit it will be useful, he must have filmed every one at some point. I think you will be more use than me though, I didn't know hardly anyone there."

"Didn't stop you having a good time though did it?" He gave her a sideways glance and a brief flirty smile, and she shook her head, the corners of her own mouth turning up.

"I didn't think our colleagues were going to see us though did I?"

They reached the foyer, and she turned to leave but he touched her arm.

"Please make sure I am not there when they see it?" He looked petulant, and she could have sworn he was pouting.

"Oh no, we go down, we go down together. I think you belong on a stage, maybe they will cheer you on."

He shook his head in offence at the blasé disregard for the unavoidable embarrassment, letting her go and watching her leave, admiring her in spite of himself.

Neil knew his reputation was that of a grouch at the best of times, and if he was honest with himself, a little proof he and Grace had fun, dancing and kissing and whatever else was on that video of them together wouldn't have been entirely bad, at least recoverable from. That was not all the issue however; he wasn't just his now brother-in-law's best man, and there was a specific reason for his son videoing them: he liked to sing on the quiet, and had crooned to Grace several slightly drunken love songs which made him cringe just thinking about them.

* * *

Grace had given the memory card to an excited Mickey and picked up an unrelated simple fraudulent claims case to get out of the office, not particularly looking forward to every one having seen her tipsy and freely flirtatious, dancing with the boss and his son and giggling girlishly. She wasn't aware of a time she had let herself go like that properly since university, and she never would have done had there been a chance her colleagues could see, it would destroy her too-calm-to-care image she had built up. But Neil's singing...she had stifle a grin. She thought him actually rather good, but it could not be denied that his old fashioned style and the direction at her would do more than just raise a few smiles.

Eventually she needed to go back up, and prepared herself before entering to see, sure enough, almost everyone she was on first name terms with gathered in the same room as a screen which was currently showing her teaching Jake how to dance, Neil's laugh shaking the

camera as he held it.

Grace's eyes scanned the room, and quickly found their target. He looked up at her, removing a hand from his forehead, a reddish tinge to his cheeks, surrounded by a throng who had clearly made him watch with them.

'What happened to together,' he mouthed, and she shrugged with a slight smirk, the exchange not missed by their friends.

"Come on Grace, maybe this will jog your memory to anyone suspicious," the low, slightly amused voice of Banksy reasoned, and she nodded, deigning to sit as far away from Neil as possible.

"_Give us the camera then Dad, it's your go!"said the excited Jake, taking the camera before his dad had a chance to reply._

_Grace laughed openly, walking toward them away from the small but occupied dance floor. The camera briefly catches the group of pairs of dancers still on the floor._

_Jake's hands shook, the picture far less properly focused on what it should be than before. Neil and Grace began dancing to the slower song that just came on, their bodies close and comfortable, their words too quiet for the cameraman's liking._

"_Come on, this is boring, at least kiss or something!" Both adults laughed, looking at each other and obliged, Neil holding on to her bottom lip a little longer than what would have usually been deemed appropriate for him._

Grace couldn't help closing her eyes in embarrassment, thanking her darker complexion a million times for the lack of visible blush it produced. The jeers she expected however didn't come; most of the room were smiling, but happily rather than mockingly.

"_Dad, dad, you promised Auntie Sally you would sing something, do one for Gracie!"_

_He looked quiet sheepish, and Grace caught his eye questioningly, taking his hand to walk toward to the camera when she received no elaboration. The camera simply showed the shaky view of some shoes for a few seconds and indistinct voices and music, before it became clear Jake was now sitting on his Dad's lap at one of the tables and Grace was next to them, the camera being held by Jake at arms length to show little but their three faces._

"_This is Jake Manson reporting with Dad news," said he in a ridiculous voice, mock seriousness mingled with the restraint from laughing clear on Neil and Grace's faces._

"_The latest in Dad news: Dad won't agree to show Gracie his secret hobby of singing oldy woldy songs, even though he said to my Auntie that he would. What do you think, special guest Gracie Dasari?", he pointed an imaginary microphone at her mouth, now holding the camera with one hand, steadied by a worried one of his father's._

"_Well I really want to hear it!" she said with finality, her expression displaying she knew he would cave with their combined attentions._

_He looked between them and sighed._

"_Fine."_

_Grace laughed and kissed him on the cheek in thanks while Jake signed off._

"_This has been another edition of Dad news. Tune in next time when he won't let me watch '_Little Britain_.'"_

_The camera abruptly shut off, the next clip immediately showing. Neil is on the small stage and the camera is wobbling from the clapping of it's holder. It briefly points to Grace, also clapping and laughing at the put-upon expression on her partners face. It covers the people at the table and the bar's faces as it scans the whole audience as the music starts._

"Wait a second, look!" Before anyone could tear their eyes away, their DI had grabbed the remote and paused the image, and rewound a few seconds, pointing at a man entering the the main office at the back while everyone else was focused on him.

"Wasn't that...?" Grace said to him, oblivious to the annoyance of those around them.

"Yeah, I think so."

The DI got up, professionalism back, and addressed the group as a whole.

"This must be the man we are looking for, why else would he enter the office when everyone was looking at...not the office?" he awkwardly explained.

"Well...?" DS Carter said from the back in deliberate monotone, startling every one.

"Well what, Max?"

"Who is he? You two obviously spoke to him."

Neil immediately looked anywhere but Grace while she gave a short huff of amusement at his discomfort and answered for him.

"It wasn't exactly a conversation, he-"

"-was a prat," Neil finished in disgruntlement.

Confusion and raised eyebrows covered the room, but surprisingly no one made comment, and Grace continued as if there were no interruption.

"He was being overly friendly with me while N-the Guv had taken Jake to the toilet." She gave 'N-the Guv' a sideways glance.

"And...?" said Stevie, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"I came back." He responded shortly, "I don't think it was a particularly long conversation."

Something in his tone didn't invite humour, although some of the women did appreciate the protectiveness. After that video, they were hard pushed to really find any real fault in their relationship. A lot of them at that point were honestly a little envious.

There was a silence of several long moments before Mickey said he would compare some of the other pictures they had got to the one on the camera, and run it through facial. Before any one had actually left though, their Superintendent strolled in.

He questioned curiously the nature of the gathering, and Neil quickly gave his version. Jack Meadowes, however, knew there was something worth seeing.

"Should at least play it until the end, for thoroughness' sake and everything, eh Neil?" he clapped him on the back as he spoke, gesturing for someone to gleefully press play.

Leaning against an empty desk with his boss, Neil covered his head with a hand as the screen him began to croon.

* * *

**For those who don't know, Andrew Lancel (who played Neil Manson) is a crooner singer in his spare time, so I got the inspiration for that aspect from that, as I am a big fan of him generally. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, please tell me if you want more, if you liked it, or anything at all :)**


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